Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-06-08
DAILY EBB AND FLOW
OF THE HUMAN TIDE BETWEEN
NEW WORK AND BROOKLYN.

| People HurrNing to the big Bridge
| Rur ming for the Ferry Boat--Th. Re
turn Tide.
l live in BROOKLYN. and every morning
| and evening make one of the innumerable
throng about 200, U00 they thiuiI who
| cross and rcCru>S Fast river, and see "A
| deal of curious humanity in the process.
| As come over al all hours from Il 10 ) a.
| m, and return with the same latitude, |
| alternate my company very aEreeably
| First Is The tin bucket brigade, but | only
| See them when | walk down Ia the bride,
before breakfast. About O'Clock tho
throng begins. First come the scaNruCcr.
| and sweepers. the women who sweep ont
the offices, the boys who do the early
morning work, the first relief of mesSen-
gers and their contemporaries. A little
later every car Is crowded with lahurprS
brawny men of the pick and hammer;
about ~, 600 of them come over before :
o clock. Then there j. lull for a few
minutes, but soon after breakfast one
sees long lines of people ON all the streets
near the bridge, hurrying 10 the stairs
merchants, Wall street men, clerks. shop
girls writers and l-ople of a hundred
other oCCulStionS.
Before s:30 the entrance stairs are
jammed with moving humanity. The
tickets are dropped in the box below
three cents each OF forty for "A dollar,
the cars are opened and filed in ten sec.
onds--iirst corners seated. late Cumers
hanging on 10 the straps-then the clamp
is turned On 10 the running cable and we
are whrled across 10 Park row in two
minutes. Each car will SCAT forty persons
and generally holds fifty; there are three
ears III each train, and one train a min
ute; So 5000 people per hour are brought
over i'll the cars. The foot PASSENGERS
way, below the car track, is crowded at
the same time, and the carriage way. too;
SO at least 10 600 people cCme over ON the
bridge every morning.
ALL THE FERRY BOATS running.
Meanwhile all the ferry boats are run
ming al their best. For two hours each
morning and evening they charge but one
cent for passage-thc same As footmen pay
ON the bridge, At other hours two cents.
Walking 10 the foot OF Fulton street,
Brooklyn, any morning about 80, OBJ
serve several hundred people break into n
run all At once; the clang at the dock has
warned them that boat is in. and time
is 50 precious that they don't want 10 lose
the two minutes and a half OF waiting for
the next boat. But il is a well established
principle of my constitution not to kill
myself to keep myself. and never run
for train or boat. The roomy passenger
depots are nice places 10 wait in, any how;
1S Ia h.a
press against the big iron gate ready 10
jump for the next boat rs soon as it is
made fast and the gate run back
And i all this rushing and CrOwding
good for humanity Certainly not \
fellow is swallowed up; his individuality
is lost: he is not a self existent and re
spected man, but merely one unit in a
vast aggregate of numbers. Nobody
knows anybody; and from the rush for
first place. and the push for seats. should
guess that nobody cares for anybody
have crossed on the cars a dozen tines,
and can't remember that | have seen the |
same person twice. Soon after a. M.
there is a perceptible thinning Of the |
crowds, both On bridge and ferries: then
people Of more leisure come over. and |
from ~ O'Clock till , p Iii one may see |
]
riages On the roadway. About .. IA.
the return tide begins to rise and about |
. 80 the throng is much more dense than f.
in the morning. The crush is awful Al /,
most every day sUIne one is painfully /
squeezed against the iron railing, and &C
some feeble one i badly bruised
Going over from ) 10 d one sees only
lense crowd OF wearied people; about : |
n
these people, cooled and refreshed, bound .
for the evening entertainments in Scw |
\ ork; the shop girls who went east in |
plain and shop worn dresses are now,
many Of them, going west in rather elegant |
evening costumes. A dozen first class
theatres and at least fifty second and third /
lass bring some thousands; the others |
scatter among scores uf churches lyceumS.
hubs, concert halls, and social GATHERINGS
# every conceivable kind. H. Bealle
n Rockville Tribune.